Black Panther Review

I know I’m a little late to see it, but yesterday evening I watched Black Panther. Even before the movie had been released there was already a lot being said online about Black Panther, certainly what this film represents in terms of race has been heavily talked about. Given how much discourse is already out there I’m keeping my review a little more focused to avoid repeating what has already been written. As usual with my reviews I aim to be spoiler free but there could be some parts that might be considered spoilers.

I really enjoyed Black Panther. I think it could possibly become one of my all-time favourite superhero movies – though I would need to see it again before deciding that for certain. I always enjoy superhero movies that have sub-plots that operate on another level beyond just the action, that’s part of why I love Captain America: The Winter Soldier. There was also the right amount of humour in Black Panther, I know some people are critical of the amount of humour in Marvel movies but I think this time there was the right balance.

Another thing that makes Black Panther unique in the superhero genre is that it is a very aesthetically pleasing movie. The scenery is beautiful. The design of the city is impressive. Clearly a lot of time and effort went into designing Wakanda and that clearly showed on screen.

Nakia, Okoye, Shuri, Ramonda, and Ayo – Black Panther had come seriously cool female characters in it. I would go as far as to say that in terms of representation of women this is the best Marvel so far. I also noticed that Wakanda seems to be a pretty much gender equal society. It really is encouraging to see how far Marvel have come in terms of female characters.

I think the best character from Black Panther has to be Shuri. I’ve seen a lot of people saying how cool she is and I definitely agree with that. Shuri is smart, funny, badass and just really likeable – whenever she was onscreen she stole the scene. Maybe I am a little biased as I do tend to like quick-witted, intelligent, capable princesses but I really thought Shuri was great. I would say Shuri perhaps feels like the Princess Leia of the 2010s – two of the hair styles she has were definitely inspired by Leia! I hope we get to see Shuri return in many future Marvel movies.

One complaint I would say is that perhaps at times Black Panther was a little too reliant upon the events of Captain America: Civil War. I’d imagine if you go into Black Panther without having seen that first then you might be a little bit lost. Personally I prefer superhero movies to be standalone, but that said the connections between the two did not feel like they were arbitrarily forced in.

Also in the post-credits scene my absolute favourite Marvel character makes a cameo appearance!

The Last Jedi Review

“A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…”, so begins another instalment of the Star Wars saga. I promise this review is going to be as spoiler free as possible however that might mean that at times I am a little vague.

I personally enjoyed this film. The Last Jedi is Episode 8 and the second part of the current trilogy. The Last Jedi picks up where The Force Awakens left off, and I mean right where it left off. There’s the continuation of that final scene with Rey and Luke on the island.

The Last Jedi poses some new questions which will be taken forward into Episode 9 and it also answers some questions from The Force Awakens. There’s a couple of things specific to Rey which were left open in The Force Awakens and will suddenly make sense. Yes, we do find out who Rey’s parents are, I have seen people guessing the correct answer but I’m not going to say who it is here…

The Last Jedi primarily follows the new trio of Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron. Rey is as badass as she was last time. We got to see more of Poe this time round and he got some character development. Finn is still a very likeable character and he has good chemistry with the character he spends most of the movie with.

We are also introduced to the Ewoks of this trilogy, the Porgs. The Porgs are primarily there for comic relief and to look cute and sell toys. They do look cute. I want a Porg.

Leia was as good as you’d expect. You probably will end up feeling sad about Carrie Fisher’s death again as it feels so obvious that Star Wars was not finished with Leia.

To be honest I’m not entirely sure why I am writing a review, if you like Star Wars you’re going to go see this movie anyway but it’s good to know that The Last Jedi is a good movie.